The Forever War - Joe Haldeman Reviews

The first time I read this book was a few years back, I can't honestly remember if it was myself or my husband who bought it, we're both sci-fi fans, so it could have been either of us, but I do remember once we'd both read it we had a lot of discussion about the book, and I'm pretty certain we'd ordered the second book in the series before both ...  Read the complete review

I first read it when I was 9 then spent another 20 years trying to find another copy of the copy. So many people telling me it didn't exist I actually thought I'd imagined reading it. As the reader you follow the life of William Mandela from becoming a Private at the start of an interstellar and interspecies war right through to its ...  Read the complete review

Even from an early age, I've always been fascinated by science-fiction, starting off with various television shows and movies, before eventually moving on to read any and every sci-fi novel I could get my hands on. It was with some delight then that I recently stumbled across the 'SF Masterworks' series, which is a growing collection of novels ...  Read the complete review

I must admit, the Hamilton quote was what hooked me into buying the book, and it is easily one of the best SF war novels I have read. As one other reviewer notes, reading it does cause flashbacks to the film Starship Troopers, but for all those out there that hated the film, be assured that this book is much more intelligent and well thought out. ...  Read the complete review

For the totally uninitiated, the war of the title is a conflict between humans and aliens with whom we have, until the very end, no communication other than missile fire with; unknown and inexplicable enemy. It begins sometime in 1996 - he explains that in the foreword, it all makes sense, don't worry about it - and lasts well into the 32nd ...  Read the complete review

When I started reading this book I had a strange feeling of deja vu, largely thanks to recent film and TV in the form of Starship Troopers (based on a Heinlen novel of the same name) and Space Above and Beyond. This book was written back in 1974 and so got there long before either of those two and anyway it tells a far better war story. Joe ...  Read the complete review

For a science fiction novel originally written as a reaction to the Vietnam war, by an author who was himself a war veteran, this novel has in fact lost almost none of its relevance today. William Mandella is a Private recruited into the human forces who are currently locked into battle with the mysterious alien Taurans. After undergoing ...  Read the complete review